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The
highest courage is to dare to be yourself in the face of adversity,
choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience, and truth over
popularity.
Travel the path of integrity without looking back, for THERE IS
NEVER A WRONG TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
-
Bishop Soc Villegas
25 July 2007
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<< Go
to "Servant Leadership" Menu...
ON SERVANT
LEADERSHIP
(Part 28)
UTILIZING OUR
TALENTS - 2[1]
November
13, 2011
Today’s reading: Matthew 25:14-30
Servant leadership is an awesome responsibility, because servant
leaders step into the very sandals of Jesus, continuing his work
of bringing his salvation into the lives of people, and helping
care for his flock. Now that is intimidating! Some who are called
would rather not start off on that challenging road of servant
leadership, oftentimes out of fear of the unknown, or of failure,
or of not measuring up to God’s standard (Mt 25:24-25).
But when we do that, is that it? Have we simply avoided a
complication in our future? No! When we are given a talent[2]
and we do not use it for the benefit of the Master, we will be
severely punished (Mt 25:30). Why? It is the sin of omission. God
calls us as His servants and entrusts us with His possessions (Mt
25:14), that is, His work of salvation and the good things given
us by which we are to help make a better world. He is depending on
us to produce fruit. If we refuse to even try, we are turning our
backs on Him, rejecting Him and His plan for the life of the
world. That is why we are considered “wicked” (Mt 25:26).
Still, if we truly realized how awesome is the task entrusted to
God’s servant leaders, it is intimidating. What then can help
us?
One, we will not be measured by the fruit we produce, but by our
faithfulness. Even if the third servant had only put the
master’s money in the bank and earned interest (Mt 25:27), he
would have escaped punishment. God is only looking for willing
instruments. It is He who empowers and He who provides the growth.
Our task is just to present ourselves and do our work as best we
can.
Two, the acceptance, reward and joy of the Master will be the same
even if we produced less fruit than others. What the master said
to the first two servants, who produced different results, was
exactly the same (Mt 25:21,23). We do what we are called to, not
comparing with how prominent or outstanding other servant leaders
are, not feeling less worthy because we seemingly produce less
fruit.
Three, we start with what we have, and God will increase our
talent as we prove faithful (Mt 25:28-29a). Servant leadership is
a continuing learning experience. There will be ups and downs. We
will seemingly fail at times. We start off unsure of ourselves,
but will grow as we simply act. God starts us off with what He
knows we can handle. Then He gives us greater tasks to do as we
prove faithful (Mt 25:21b).
Four, we should know and fear the consequences of inaction or
infidelity. Not only will we lose the talent given us (Mt 25:28),
such that our spiritual life will be impoverished (Mt 25:29b), not
only will we be considered by the Master as a “useless
servant” (Mt 25:30a), but we will be thrown “into the darkness
outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” (Mt
25:30). Not to use the talent is to lose the talent, to miss out
on being received by the Master with joy, and to end up in
darkness outside the wonderful realm of God.
So let us be good and not wicked servants. Let us go about the
work of the Kingdom with zeal and vigor and not be lazy. Let us be
faithful and thus useful, and not be useless. Let us grow rich and
not have whatever little we have to even be taken away. Let us
share our Master’s joy and not wail and grind our teeth in the
darkness.
And let us grow in greater responsibilities in the work of the
Kingdom. Then let us await with wondrous expectation the return of
our Master and his settling accounts with us (Mt 25:19).
[1]
See my reflection on this same verse given last August 27, 2011
(On Servant Leadership, Part 25).
[2] Every member of community is given a gift to be
used for the benefit of the work (1 Cor 12:7).
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